


an only child of the universe

by g0ldendays



Category: Formula 2 RPF, Motorsport RPF
Genre: Christmas, Formula 2, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:41:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21756211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/g0ldendays/pseuds/g0ldendays
Summary: Magical Christmas ornaments can't possibly be real.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	an only child of the universe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eliotthawke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliotthawke/gifts).



> And here we are again! Like the previous one, this has zero romantic plots. If that's what you came here for, best to return to the main page now! We're just here for the disaster duo of FDA roommates and my creative interpretation of some Christmas prompt I found online. One day I'll branch out to other kids but these two are so easy to write.
> 
> Title has nothing to do with the fic, as it usually is with me, but it's from Fall Out Boy's 'the last of the real ones'. Disclaimer: I don't know these kids in real life, this is probably not an accurate portrayal of them, I own nothing and I'm not associated with them. Do not share this with the drivers in question.
> 
> As always for the lovely eliotthawke who somehow keeps inspiring me to write things even though I don't usually churn out this many fics in a short amount of time. Love you lots!

Callum had heard of the Christmas ornament since he was a little kid. Maybe when he was that little, he believed it, but he didn’t anymore. His mum had always said it was magical, but Callum knew damn well there was no such thing as magic. Especially not in this day and age, coming off a decently shitty season and not at all feeling like celebrating. His little sister did believe in it anyway, clearly, because she had carefully packed the ornament in bubble wrap and must’ve put it in his suitcase when he hadn’t been looking.

It was Christmas Eve and Callum was unpacking his suitcase in his tiny shoebox apartment in Italy, the one he shared with Marcus. For some ungodly reason, Ferrari had decided they needed to be in Italy for team Christmas dinner and skipping it would ‘have serious consequences’, according to the sternly worded email they had all received. Did the Ferrari personnel not have families to go home to, Callum wondered. Christmas usually was the one time no obligations were happening because it was a sacred holiday. But not this year, apparently. 

“You look like Santa’s reindeer ate your favorite pair of shoes,” Marcus remarked cheerfully. Callum gave him his best unimpressed look. For someone who had had to postpone his flight to New Zealand, Marcus was looking decidedly happy. A happy looking Marcus was always suspicious, so Callum didn’t trust it for a second. 

“Maybe they did,” he shot back, but he knew perfectly well it was a weak comeback. “When did you put up that... interesting tree?”

Marcus grinned like he thought he was the best thing in the world. “Yesterday evening, didn’t expect you to come in today. Otherwise I would’ve bought a bigger one.” The godawful tree in question was some hideous fake thing, looking like Marcus had personally made it his mission to put as many shiny baubles and as much glittery tinsel in it as its tiny branches could bear. Knowing Marcus, that was probably exactly what he did.

“No, this one is fine,” Callum replied drily, too tired to argue about putting the thing somewhere else. The reflection of the flashing Christmas lights on the baubles was giving him a bit of a headache. 

“You hate it, don’t you,” Marcus chuckled. Callum considered for a second if throwing Marcus out the kitchen window was worth the hassle.

“It’s beautiful.” No, it was not worth the hassle. For one, he’d probably lose his FDA spot - he didn’t think they looked kindly upon murdering a fellow member. 

“Liar.”

“Fine, it’s hideous and it’s giving me a headache. I’m going to get some Advil and some water,” and Callum quickly went into the kitchen to avoid a further discussion about the tree. 

“You love me,” Marcus singsonged from the living room and Callum sighed so loudly he was sure even his parents had heard it. There was a silence before Marcus’ voice sounded again. “Hey, you didn’t mention you had more decorations for the tree!”

“It’s just one ornament.”

“I don’t care, it’s cute. We should put it up. Wanna do the honors?” Callum returned to the living room only to see Marcus holding the magical Christmas ornament. In all honestly, it was a very modest little wooden snowflake carve-out, not at all like the rest of the tree. He vaguely remembered his mum telling him it had old runes carved into it for good luck and joyful spirits. Its magic was bringing people together and ‘maybe something else’, she had mysteriously stated. Clearly, it didn’t work or Callum would’ve been in the UK right now with his family instead of Italy with his annoying roommate. 

As he reached to take it from Marcus so they could put it up, the lights stopped flashing for a second and seemed to emit a glow. Callum narrowed his eyes and yanked the ornament from Marcus’ hand. The lights went back to flashing. “Can you turn off the flashing and just put it to normal? It’s hurting my eyes.”

Marcus grinned, but went to do it anyway. “Too much Christmas cheer for you, Scrooge?” He didn’t appear to have noticed anything different about the lights in the split second it took Callum to take the wooden snowflake from him. Callum told himself he was just hallucinating from lack of sleep at this point and put the ornament in the tree. It looked oddly minimalistic in between the shiny baubles and silver tinsel, but, strangely, not entirely out of place. 

“Why did you bring only one ornament?” Marcus asked later, when his character in Call of Duty was respawning and Callum was half asleep on the couch. 

“My sister packed it, I guess she wanted me to have a magical Christmas,” Callum mumbled in reply. 

“Magical? With one ornament? It would’ve been a poor tree if it only had that in it,” Marcus said, dropping his controller with a groan as he was killed again. 

“For some reason my entire family believes the thing has some kind of magic.” It sounded a bit silly, even to his own ears, but it was Ilott family lore. “Like, it brings good vibes or something.”

Marcus considered it for a second. “I appreciate the sentiment but I doubt that-”, he pointed at the snowflake, “has any sort of magic.”

Callum shrugged. “I didn’t come up with it. But my sister must’ve thought it’s real or she wouldn’t have put it in my suitcase, given it’s a sort of sacred thing at home. Gets its own special place and all.” Speaking of, Callum should probably let his mum know where it was before all hell broke loose. 

They didn’t speak of the magical ornament any further, both doing their own thing as Marcus continued getting killed in Call of Duty and Callum texted his mum to let her know he had the ornament. He had decided not to mention it was his sister who had packed it for him, in case she got in trouble. 

That night, Callum woke up when he heard some odd sounds from the living room. It nearly woke him in a cold sweat, but he realized it weren’t voices he was hearing - it was the sound of hooves. Right. He must still be asleep, there’s no way he actually heard that. With that thought in mind (and remembering he locked his bedroom door), he went back to sleep. 

Marcus woke him up in the morning with loud knocking on the door. That alone wasn’t unusual for him, especially considering Marcus was a real morning person and needed to burn off some energy before he could actually get started on his day, but he didn’t usually accompany the knocking with a very loud, very concerned “You gotta wake up man.”

“If this is a prank, it’s a very bad one,” Callum complained as he opened his door and shielded his eyes against the light. 

“Tell that to our Christmas tree,” Marcus said and Callum followed him to the living room, where he felt his jaw drop. The tiny, hideous tree from last night had been replaced with a big and real tree, beautifully decorated. And there, in full sight, was the snowflake ornament. “Judging by your face I’m gonna go ahead and say you didn’t swap out our tree for this one. You’re not that good an actor.”

“Uh, I did not. And I didn’t hear anything.” It would be silly to tell Marcus he heard hooves right? But considering their tree had somehow magically been replaced while they were asleep... “It wasn’t you, was it?” Marcus didn’t bother dignifying that with a response. Guess not then. “Maybe it was Santa,” Callum joked. “He thought your tree was hideous and that we needed a better one.”

“I’m more concerned about someone breaking into our apartment. I checked all the valuables but nothing’s been taken and the door wasn’t forced open.” Right. Callum hadn’t even been awake enough to think of that yet. “i already called the FDA to let them know but they stopped being worried about our safety when I said only the tree had been replaced.”

“Hey, did you buy me gifts?” Callum asked with a grin when he spotted the pile of gifts near the tree. “I knew you loved me.”

“Obviously not, dickhead. And I take it you didn’t buy me any, either.” For a minute they stood there, looking at the pile together. 

“We should open them,” Callum suggested.

“What if there’s a dead body inside?” Marcus countered and Callum rolled his eyes. 

“This isn’t some crime show, we’ll be fine.” Grabbing the few gifts bearing his own name, Callum made his way over to the couch.

“Fine, but if we die, I’m blaming you.” Ripping open the first box, Marcus seemed disappointed with what was inside. “It’s empty.”

“So is mine,” Callum said, showing Marcus his empty box. There was three of them for him, and two for Marcus. Callum’s second box contained a handwritten note. “Hey, what does this mean?” He showed it to Marcus, who had just opened his own second box and found a similar note.

“No clue.” They studied the notes for a second. “They look like flight numbers. But that doesn’t make sense. I’ve already booked my flight home after Christmas and they need us here anyway.” Callum’s last box was also empty. 

Despite the big mystery of the boxes and the tree, the rest of the day was quite uneventful. They had unanimously decided to put the boxes aside, notes still inside, and leave the tree up. It did look better than Marcus’ terrible tiny one. There were some media duties (apparently journalists didn’t get to celebrate Christmas either) but they didn’t take up all day. In the evening, they had to attend the Christmas dinner hosted by Ferrari - and wear appropriate attire. 

“I just don’t get why dinners always have to be fancy,” Marcus complained as he struggled with his bowtie. “Isn’t it just easier to tell everyone to wear a Christmas sweater and joggers?” 

“They’re just for connections and business,” Callum said, slapping Marcus’ hand away from the mess of his bowtie. “Keep still and let me fix it.” Thanks to Callum’s handiwork, they were out the door five minutes later. “You’d still be messing with your bowtie if I hadn’t helped you out, so I’m driving,” Callum argued. It’s not that Marcus was a bad driver, but he sometimes had the tendency to forget he wasn’t on a circuit. 

“Fine, but I’m blaming your grandma driving skills if we’re late.” 

On arrival at the location of the dinner, they were still bickering about driving skills and bowties. Callum could see why some people said they behaved like an old married couple sometimes. Living with someone just did that to you. “Are you sure we’re in the right place?”

“Well, you were navigating, so...” 

Marcus tactfully ignored that comment, or else it might’ve set off another argument. “It looks so dark, like no one’s here.”

Callum was inclined to agree with him on that. “Let’s just go inside if the door’s open and wait. Maybe we’re early, what time did it say in the email?” Neither of them could find the email on their phone so they just decided to take the risk. Pushing open the door, Callum noticed it was unlocked. The room was pitch black but felt eerily spooky. Like there was someone watching them.

“Merry Christmas!” it sounded loudly from all around them as the lights flashed on and revealed a crowd of FDA members, personnel and their families. And in the midst of it all, Callum saw his own parents and sister. Sneaky bastards at the FDA, they’d set up a surprise party so they could be with their families anyway despite having work duties today and tomorrow.

As Callum embraced his family with the biggest smile, he had a realization. Maybe the snowflake ornament did have some magic, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll leave you to fill in for yourself if any magic was involved or not! Let me know what you think?


End file.
